Valdez
Valdez v. Castro
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM *
Valdez appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus following his conviction, premised on his role as an aider and abettor, for second degree murder, attempted murder, and shooting at an occupied building. We reverse and remand.
The state Court of Appeal should have conducted a harmless error review under Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 , 87 S.Ct. 824 , 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967), because the state trial court’s error in instructing the jury on voluntary intoxication violated Valdez’s constitutional due process rights. Instead, the state Court of Appeal reviewed the error under People v. Watson, 46 Cal.2d 818 , 299 P.2d 243 (1956), a state law harmless error standard of review applicable to non-constitutional trial error. Valdez argues on appeal that because the state court applied the wrong standard in its harmless error review, the district court erred in applying the objective unreasonableness test of 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d) to the state court’s decision rather than conducting its own harmless error review under Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619 , 113 S.Ct. 1710 , 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993). We agree.